QOTD: Who is thest late night host?

Jstas

Last week was NBC-gate or Leno-gate or whatever you want to call it. When the dust settled, everyone was pissed off and Conan was out of a job. I was watching Letterman last night and he's still mocking the whole thing. He's gotten quite cocky in the last few years. But it got me thinking, who's my favorite host? Then I thought that it would be a good QOTD to ask.

So who is your favorite CURRENT late night host? The current players are:

Jay Leno
David Letterman
Jimmy Kimmel
Conan O'Brien
Craig Ferguson
Jimmy Fallon

There are a couple others with late shows on cable networks like Jon Stewart and Chelsea Handler.

There is also "Last Call" with Carson Daly but why bother?

So who is your favorite? Did I miss anyone in the list?


Me, I like Craig Ferguson. Hands down, my favorite one. His monologue is actually funny, his sketches that they do are so campy and bad they are hilarious and his guests rarely seem put off or uncomfortable. He doesn't have this air of superiority about him and he seems to have a blast doing what he is doing. He's a delight to watch!

bobman1235

Agreed, I don't watch the shows regularly but when I do catch them Ferguson is my favorite. He's just so damn genuine and likable on top of being hilarious.

I always hated Jimmy Fallon but I have to admit some of the "games" he plays with his audience can be a lot of fun to watch.

Face

Jay can go suck an egg.

NJPOLKER

I don't like or watch any of them. Generally past my bed time anyway. But what I know of most of them is they are all J O's

Jstas

Sorry, I dunno what happened to the question in the subject. It was supposed to be "Who is the best late night host?"

BAD ASP

Jstas wrote: »

Last week was NBC-gate or Leno-gate or whatever you want to call it. When the dust settled, everyone was pissed off and Conan was out of a job. I was watching Letterman last night and he's still mocking the whole thing. He's gotten quite cocky in the last few years. But it got me thinking, who's my favorite host? Then I thought that it would be a good QOTD to ask.

So who is your favorite CURRENT late night host? The current players are:

Jay Leno
David Letterman
Jimmy Kimmel
Conan O'Brien
Craig Ferguson
Jimmy Fallon
There are a couple others with late shows on cable networks like Jon Stewart and Chelsea Handler.

There is also "Last Call" with Carson Daly but why bother?

So who is your favorite? Did I miss anyone in the list?


Me, I like Craig Ferguson. Hands down, my favorite one. His monologue is actually funny, his sketches that they do are so campy and bad they are hilarious and his guests rarely seem put off or uncomfortable. He doesn't have this air of superiority about him and he seems to have a blast doing what he is doing. He's a delight to watch!

I agree with Craig Ferguson, it's too bad he's on late. His interviews always seem to stay on task with the guest. He allows the guest to quip and he follows that. He's not always trying to control the topics. I find that refreshing. And for that his interviews always seem to be fresh and not so canned. He is also, IMO, more naturally humorous than others. The rest I'll channel surf depending on the guests and how the interviews are going.

zombie boy 2000

Another vote for Ferguson for the reasons mentioned above. However, the first couple of years with Conan was not only some of the best late night ever, but some of the best television in general. I know much of it was over 15 years ago, but some of the skits still hold up to this day.

bobman1235

Conan's really his funniest when he has to break from the late night format. In the early years he was just crazy, but in later years he's had moments of brilliance. When the writer's strike happened and he had to just go rogue and do all this crazy ****, he was absolutely hilarious. It was the most inane stuff, like spinning his wedding ring on his desk and seeing how long it would spin, but for some reason so fun and entertaining. These past few weeks when he's obviously just said "eff it" and thrown caution to the wind you get a hint of what his show used to be - kind of irreverent and funny rather than watered down crap like... well, Leno's show.

Knucklehead

The George Lopez show is rather funny. (Im not refering to the sit-com).

Face

Speaking of late night hosts, a Club Polk member can be seen here at the 5 minute mark.

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Pauly

Guessing its you?


Pauly

heiney9

Grew up with Letterman so I give him a slight nod, but I do like Ferguson and Conan almost equally.

I never did/do understand the allure of Leno. He's not funny and he has no timing as in he looks like he just reads off the cue cards. He rode Johnny's coat tails as the heir apparent when Johnny left and I think many like him by default.

I think NBC's decision to back him and give him his old slot back is suicide. He's lost quite a few viewers who I doubt will come back just because he's on later.

I wish Conan good luck and hope he lands where he can be appreciated.

Fallon can fall off the face of the Earth as far as I'm concerned. Only one worse than him was Chevy Chase.

H9

P.s. I will add that I think Letterman's best days are behind him. But that's what happens when you've been doing it this long. Johnny had the right idea...............go out on top.

brettw22

I like Letterman.....I like his schtick personally. while many will **** about his attitude, it's at least HIS attitude, rather than the cheesy lame hand holding entry, clap of your hands after one of your jokes, etc that Leno does....Leno is ok, but his funniest parts of the show are the bits he does on the streets.......(PHOTO BOOTH i think is one of my favorites).

Conan is unique, but he should have had a run without the Leno experiment they forced into the mix to accurately see how Conan did on his own.

I think Conan will get a big show and it'll be on another network, but it should be an embarrassment to the Tonight Show to see how they eff that up whenever Leno moves on (again).

thsmith

It was Johnny C been Letterman ever since

Jstas

I think Leno is better in the articles he writes for various publications. He seems to lack the passion for the late night stuff that he had when he first started doing it. But he has that same passion for the car articles and his Leno's garage piece he does as well. I think if he found that passion in late night again, he'd be better.


But another thing I like about Ferguson is that he talks about his flaws. Not silly stuff like Letterman does but like Ferguson's struggle with alcoholism and drug abuse and other triumphs and failures in his life. He puts it out there because he feels like he should talk about it. Not because some staff person from his show is threatening extortion. It makes Ferguson a real person. Out of all the hosts listed and even the ones I missed, like Lopez, Ferguson is the only one I could see myself buying him a beer...if it wasn't for the whole sobriety thing.

Zitro

Jstas wrote: »

But another thing I like about Ferguson is that he talks about his flaws. Not silly stuff like Letterman does but like Ferguson's struggle with alcoholism and drug abuse and other triumphs and failures in his life. He puts it out there because he feels like he should talk about it. Not because some staff person from his show is threatening extortion. It makes Ferguson a real person. Out of all the hosts listed and even the ones I missed, like Lopez, Ferguson is the only one I could see myself buying him a beer...if it wasn't for the whole sobriety thing.

+1 agree 100%

I personally feel Ferguson is the funniest and most charismatic. His personality and sense of humor never fails to make me laugh. And the fact that he makes fun of himself and the show is just awesome. The man doesn't even have a band and his show is still the best lol.

gtu2004

bobman1235 wrote: »

Conan's really his funniest when he has to break from the late night format. In the early years he was just crazy, but in later years he's had moments of brilliance. When the writer's strike happened and he had to just go rogue and do all this crazy ****, he was absolutely hilarious. It was the most inane stuff, like spinning his wedding ring on his desk and seeing how long it would spin, but for some reason so fun and entertaining. These past few weeks when he's obviously just said "eff it" and thrown caution to the wind you get a hint of what his show used to be - kind of irreverent and funny rather than watered down crap like... well, Leno's show.

ditto

heiney9

Ferguson reminds of how David Letterman was in the 80's when he was fresh and new. I was a sophmore in High School when DL debuted on TV and the more I compare the "old" Letterman to the current Ferguson they are similar.

H9

pearsall001

I could give a rat's **** about any of them. Not even worthy of a discussion.

concealer404

Conan if we're stuck with american shows.

I enjoy Jonathan Ross as well, though.

ryanjoachim

I pick option B - I don't care.

Rarely am I amused by these shows, regardless of the host...And i'm the kind of person who cracks up at disney-quality jokes!

sucks2beme

Maybe we should just vote for the worst. Add an entry for
"all the above".

ryanjoachim

sucks2beme wrote: »

Maybe we should just vote for the worst. Add an entry for
"all the above".

If we're going to vote for the worst...I say bring on Drew Carey!

MANSKITO

Space Ghost hands down.

zombie boy 2000

Can't argue with that pick MANSKITO.

danger boy

I like Conan... his show is pretty racy and gets away with a lot more than the other talk show hosts. Even for late night.. he pushes the envelop.. and I like that.

example: the masturbating bear

Yes it's low brow humor.. but I like it and he gets away with it. Leno to me just isn't funny to me.

Norm Apter

danger boy wrote: »

example: the masturbating bear

Agree with many above who have said Ferguson first and Conan second, noting that Conan for me was really at his peak around 2002-2003. I wish he kept doing the irreverant thing he did back then up to today. Ferguson no doubt is funny, but more than that he just seems like a really cool guy. Agree with Jstas on the have a beer thing completely.

I tuned in to Conan tonight for probably the first time in several months, and yes just tonight he brought back the masturbating bear (after 6 months and 25 days, at least according to the monologue suggesting that it was the first time since he took over The Tonight Show). But new or old Conan, he's ten times as funny as Jay Leno (I don't think I've ever laughed at/with Leno...only would tune if there was a musical guest I was interested in seeing). Good luck with that Jeff Zucker!

hearingimpared

Can't vote. Have never watched any of them after Johnny Carson retired.

cnh

I've got to agree..that off-beat Island humor of Ferguson is hard to beat...he's low budget compared to the others and still manages to stay fresh and silly.. Not an easy task for a guy who is close to my age?

The early Conan was pretty ridiculous too.

And I've always admired Letterman for his intellectual comedy..regardless of what you think of him the man has something going on between his ears..

cnh

BjornB17

For me, it's in the following order:

Conan
Letterman
Furgueson

Pauly

OUCH

Conan is having a blast with this

http://videos.mediaite.com/video/Conan-OBrien-The-Most-Expensive

Pauly